Peter May
Peter Barker Howard May
Born: 31 December 1929, The Mount, Reading, Berkshire
Died: 27 December 1994, Liphook, Hampshire
Major Teams: Surrey, Cambridge University, England.
Known As: Peter May
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Other: ICC Match Referee
Test Debut: England v South Africa at Leeds, 4th Test, 1951
Last Test: England v Australia at The Oval, 5th Test, 1961
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1952
Career Statistics:
TESTS
(career)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 66 106 9 4537 285* 46.77 13 22 42 0
O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling - - - - - - - - - -
FIRST-CLASS
(career: 1950 - 1963)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 388 618 77 27592 285* 51.00 85 127 282 0
Balls M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 102 5 49 0 - - 0 0 - 2.88
LIST A LIMITED OVERS
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 0 - - - - - - - - -
Balls M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 0 - - - - - - - - -
- Explanations of First-Class and List A status courtesy of the ACS.
ICC Match Referee Record:
Test Debut: Australia v India at Sydney, 3rd Test, 1991/92
Last Test: Australia v India at Perth, 5th Test, 1991/92
Test Appearances: 3
ODI Debut: Australia v West Indies at Melbourne, World Series, 1991/92
Last ODI: Australia v India at Sydney, World Series, 1991/92
ODI Appearances: 7
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Profile:
Peter May is generally regarded as the finest batsman produced by England
since the Second World War. At whatever level he played - whether it was for
Charterhouse School, Cambridge University, Surrey or England - his batting
stood out from those around him. He captained his school, his county and his
country with distinction and enjoyed great success.
His natural talent soon became apparent at school. He led the
Charterhouse batting averages at the tender age of 14. In 1947, his final
year at school, he totalled 651 runs in 13 innings. House matches were a
mere plaything for him, as fellow pupil and novelist Frederic Raphael
recalled: "When he played in the house matches, scoring as many runs as were
needed to bowl out the opposition, it was as if an Olympian had deigned to
play skittles with mortals."
After National Service in the Royal Navy, May went up to Cambridge in
1950 and unsurprisingly won a blue in each of his three years. In the
long vacation of 1950 he had made his debut for Surrey and, while still an
undergraduate, he made his England debut, almost inevitably hitting a
century against South Africa at Headingley in 1951. It was heady stuff but
May, modest and unassuming, took it all in his stride.
The 1950s belonged to Surrey. They were joint winners with Lancashire of
the County Championship in 1950 and won it outright in every year from 1952
until 1958. Among a team of giants - Surridge, Barrington, Laker, Lock, the
Bedser twins, Loader, Raman Subba Row - May stood tall. In 1951 he led the
first-class averages, hitting 2,000 runs in a season for the first of five
times; in all he made 1,000 runs in an English season 11 times. His most
prolific summer came in 1953 when he amassed 2,554 runs at an average of
51.08. May was appointed captain in 1957, a position he held until
ill-health and business commitments forced him to retire after the 1961
season.
After his memorable Test debut, May was an automatic choice for England.
He played 66 times for his country and captained the side on 41 occasions
from 1955 onwards, winning 20 of those matches. He amassed 4,537 runs at an
average of 47.77. His highest first-class score of 285 not out came against
the West Indies at Edgbaston in 1957 when he put on 411 with Colin Cowdrey,
a record stand for the fourth wicket in Test Matches.
Even when May's playing days were over he remained at the heart of
English cricket. In 1982 he became England's chairman of selectors and went
on to become an ICC match referee. He succumbed to a brain tumour four days
before his 65th birthday. (Graham Holburn, Copyright CricInfo 2001)
Last Updated: Friday, 18-Oct-2002 00:57:55 GMT
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